Bering Land Bridge National Preserve

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Bering Land Bridge National Preserve
IUCN Category V (Protected Landscape/Seascape)

Location:	Seward Peninsula, Alaska, USA
Nearest city:	Kotzebue, Alaska
Area:	2,698,919 acres (10,922 km²)
Established:	December 1, 1978
Total Visitation:	2,428 (in 2005)
Governing body:	National Park Service

The Bering Land Bridge National Preserve or BELA is one of the most remote United States national park areas, located on the Seward Peninsula. The National Preserve protects a remnant of the Bering Land Bridge that connected Asia with North America more than 13,000 years ago during the Pleistocene ice age. The majority of this land bridge, once thousands of miles wide, now lies beneath the waters of the Chukchi and Bering Seas.

During the glacial epoch this was part of a migration route for people, animals, and plants whenever ocean levels fell enough to expose the land bridge. Archeologists agree that it was across this Bering Land Bridge, also called Beringia, that humans first migrated from Asia to populate the Americas (see Models of migration to the New World).

The preserve was originally established on December 1, 1978 as Bering Land Bridge National Monument. On December 2, 1980 the designation was changed to a National Preserve. The Preserve's western boundary lies 42 miles from the Bering Strait and the fishing boundary between the United States and Russia. There are no roads into the preserve. Access to the preserve is by bush planes or boats during summer months and by ski planes, snowmobiles or dog sleds during the winter.

The BELA contains several sites of geological and prehistorical significance. Serpentine Hot Springs is the preserve's most visited location, with the surrounding area used for subsistence and holistic activies by Native Alaskan's since time immemorial. These activities continue today with locals from the surrounding area coming to enjoy the hot springs and scenery. Less visited but just as significant locations in the preserve include the Trail Creek Caves, Devil Mountain Lakes, and the Lost Jim Lava Flow. There has been debate in recent years over allowing road access to the preserve, however this been highly contested by some individuals.